Share it:

Agency Type:

Funding Source:

Deadline Date:

Description:

Grants starting at $20,000 to USA, Canada, the Caribbean, and Latin America nonprofits for programs that benefit people affected by HIV. First time applicants must submit an LOI. Funding is intended to provide quality health care to people living with HIV and AIDS. Priority is given to programs that improve the wellness, rights, and quality of life of individuals with HIV/AIDS.

Funding priorities include:
- Innovations in health promotion and services at organizations led by Black gay and bisexual men, including programs to increase rates of HIV testing, access to PrEP, and people's linkage to and engagement in health care and rates of viral suppression.
- Increased accommodation and services for transgender people in HIV-focused programs, such as peer-led health promotion, social and mental health services, and provision of hormone therapy, to encourage increased rates of HIV testing, access to PrEP, and people's linkage to and engagement in health care and rates of viral suppression.
- Support of leadership and leadership development of transgender people and Black gay and bisexual men in HIV services and other health programs, including efforts to create new professional opportunities for community leaders, professional growth among new managers, organizational leadership transitions, and other activities for organizational management and community leadership.
- Political organizing and advocacy by HIV-focused organizations and coalitions to promote health access, legal justice, and equal opportunity in education and employment for transgender people and Black gay and bisexual men.

Grant-making priority areas:
EJAF will fund organizations working toward one or more of the following goals:
- Wellness: Improving the health of people living with HIV or at risk or affected by HIV
- Rights: Upholding the rights of people living with and affected by HIV
- Quality of LIfe: Addressing the social and economic needs of people living with and affected by HIV
- Resilience: Strengthening the skills and strategies of organizations and activists addressing HIV.

Activities:
EJAF will fund a wide range of activities and costs. The Foundation values programs:
- Led by and based in the communities being served;
- Advocating for improved industry and government health policies and funding;
- Piloting or scaling up innovative programs to promote health and rights;
- Demonstrating a history of activism, creativity, and urgency in working to address and curtail the HIV epidemic; and
- Grounded in evidence about where and among whom HIV infections are happening, and evidence about the best interventions to help people avoid infection or, if HIV-positive, to live healthy lives.

Populations for General Open RFP: EJAF encourages grant applicants to be clear about who is intended to benefit from funded activities, how they will benefit, and how they are involved in the design and implementation of the program. EJAF will prioritize grants to organizations working with one or more key affected populations, listed below. These populations face increased vulnerability to HIV infection due to biological and structural factors, and can face barriers to accessing quality health and social services.

The following populations are prioritized within this General Open RFP:
- People living with HIV
- Black women and men (i.e. of African and/or Caribbean heritage)
- LGBT populations
- Hispanic/Latinx people
- Women and girls
- Adolescents and young adults
- People who use drugs
- People who are or have been incarcerated
- Migrants and immigrants
- Sex workers

For 2018, the Elton John AID Foundation (EJAF) is expanding its grant making through a new funding initiative: Addressing the Needs of Transgender People and Black Gay, Bisexual, SGL Men. The goals of this new initiative are:
- Improved HIV health and quality of life for Black men who are gay or bisexual, and
- Improved HIV health and quality of life for transgender people.

To reach the stated goals, effective programs may also seek to address many other correlated health, social, and structural issues such as:
- Addressing inequalities by race, gender, age, urban/rural locations, and other factors that affect access to health care, education, and social services.
- Supporting sexual health and education, mental health services, addiction support, and community mobilization.
- Protecting people from exposure to and harm from punitive policing and criminal justice systems, including access to legal services, access to education and employment, and opportunities for professional and economic advancement.
- Supporting political organizing and advocacy for systemic change.

The Foundation welcomes proposals working at the intersection of HIV and the following areas:
- Healthcare-related Policy Reform - This includes ensuring that transgender people and Black gay and bisexual men have access to high quality medical care, social services, and all other forms of support to ensure physical and mental well-being. These could include efforts to expand access to PreP, Medicaid, HIV treatment, and medically necessary surgeries and treatments.
- Economic Justice - The goal of working on economic justice is to create an opportunity for transgender people and Black gay and bisexual men to build a material foundation upon which to have a dignified, productive, and creative life. Examples include professional development and training, opportunities to grow both individual and community wealth, and structures to raise and grow funds for organizations and networks that serve the identified communities.
- Racial Justice in this context refers to having policies, beliefs, practices, attitudes, and actions that promote equal opportunity and treatment of all races.
- Gender Justice refers to equitable power relations among all genders where everyone is valued equally and empowered to pursue their human rights and fundamental freedoms. In addressing gender justice as part of this initiative we need to promote the health and wellness of transgender and Black gay and bisexual communities by fostering activities that enhance the quality of life.
- Immigrant Justice in this context refers to equitable protection for those who have migrated to the U.S. regardless of HIV status.
- HIV Criminalization refers to criminal laws that penalize alleged, perceived, or potential HIV exposure. Changing these laws is key to improving the health and wellness of the transgender and Black gay and bisexual male communities.

Competitive applicants will explain how meaningful involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS (MIPA) is reflected in the organization’s culture, hiring practices, leadership development, and project design. This will be a critical component for all applicants, but especially those who may be newer to HIV work. It is important that the expertise of people most affected by the HIV epidemic are connected to and help inform your work.

For more information about MIPA, please refer to the RFP Guidelines.

Grant Categories:
This initiative offers grant support under two categories: general operating support and project-specific support. EJAF encourages applicants to review the two categories below very carefully before determining the grant category under which they will apply.

General Operating Support:
Applicants may choose to request general operating support through this funding opportunity. General operating grants provide financial resources to the organization in support of its mission and overall activities including operating expenses and overhead, rather than providing support for specific projects or programs. Funds from this grant category do not have restrictions on how they may be used, with the exception of not being able to fund grassroots or direct lobbying activities.

Organizations requesting general operating support from the Black Gay and Transgender Initiative must have a proven track record of success in working in HIV and doing so through an intersectional approach. Applicants must be able to demonstrate an understanding and history of intersecting HIV and social justice work. The Foundation encourages organizations with a history of HIV work and organizations with a history of social justice work to apply; however, for organizations without a clear and demonstrable history of that intersectional work, the Foundation strongly recommends applying for project-specific funding.

Applicants seeking funding under this grant category will need to show a clear strategy for utilizing funds that aligns with the overall organizational goals. A work plan and project budget will not be required; however, organizations should provide an organizational budget, and will need to demonstrate how funding will be used to advance or improve work in one or more of the priorities described in this RFP. In addition, organizations should demonstrate how funding will be used to build organizational capacity and/or leadership development within their respective target populations. Requests for general operating support must contain realistic and clearly articulated benchmarks for how success will be measured.

Project-Specific Support:
Applicants may choose to request project-specific support through this funding opportunity. Project-specific support is meant to provide grant funds for a distinct project with clear goals, objectives, activities, and measurable outcomes.

Applicants applying for project-specific support must be able to demonstrate a history of working within their proposed population and must also have substantive experience in either HIV-focused or social justice work. Applicants are encouraged to view this RFP as an opportunity to establish or enhance efforts to address HIV in tandem with any number of intersecting systems of oppression. Organizations that have a social justice focus may apply under this category for a new project that helps to integrate HIV into their existing work. Equally, applicants that are working in HIV, but do not necessarily have experience in applying a social justice or intersectional framework may apply to support a new project that better addresses HIV from a social justice approach, provided eligibility criteria are met regarding the direct involvement of affected communities in organizational leadership and program development. Organizations seeking funding under this grant category will need to provide a work plan and project budget.

Collaboration and collective impact: EJAF encourages collaboration among its grantees and encourages applicants to describe collaboration with other organizations that are also applying for EJAF funding. By “collaboration,” EJAF specifically means pooling of skills, experience, and resources in work towards shared goals, either through jointly developed structures or through alignment of strategies and action plans. EJAF values its ability to fund multiple organizations for work that is aligned and reinforcing potential for impact.

Populations for Special RFP: For this Transgender People and Black Gay, Bisexual, SGL Men Initiative, EJAF is prioritizing funding for organizations led by and benefitting transgender people or Black gay and bisexual men. Grant applicants are invited to consider attention to inadequately served subpopulations within communities of transgender people and Black gay and bisexual men, including adolescents and young adults, people who use drugs, sex workers, and migrants and immigrants. Grant applicants should be clear about who is intended to benefit from funded activities, how they will benefit, and how they are involved in the design and implementation of the program.

GrantWatch ID#:

GrantWatch ID#: 172650

Estimated Size of Grant:

First-time applicants should apply for grants of between $20,000 and $100,000 in the first year. EJAF will also consider requests up to $300,000 from organizations with a national focus or working in multiple countries and have a proven ability to implement large scale programs.

Term of Contract:

EJAF will award only one-year grants, but with strong consideration for renewing successful grantees for multiple years.

Eligibility:

Additional Eligibility Criteria:

Requests are open to any nonprofit organization regardless of whether they have applied or received funding from EJAF in the past.

Only applications that meet the following eligibility requirements will be considered for funding:
- Geographic Location: Applicants must be based and perform their work in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, or Latin America.
- Nonprofit Status: Applicants must be nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations, per the guidelines set forth by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with proper 501(c)(3) status. Appropriate verification of this federal status will be undertaken by EJAF before final grant decisions are made. Alternatively, organizations or coalitions that do not hold 501(c)(3) status must have a fiscal sponsor with such status to apply.
- Financial Stability: Organizations should be fiscally stable and viable prior to submission of the funding application. These funds are not intended to help start new organizations or serve as a replacement for discontinued funding.

In addition, EJAF encourages applicants to meet the following criteria, which will strengthen their potential for receiving funds:
- Applicant organizations or networks should be led by and based in the communities being served. This includes representation of affected communities on organizational Boards, Executive Staff, and implementing staff and the participation of affected community members in the development and implementation of proposed activities.
- Applicants should have a demonstrated history of activism, advocacy, community organizing, service delivery, creativity, and urgency in working to address and curtail the HIV epidemic.
- Applicants’ strategies should either be grounded in evidence-based interventions or be willing to replicate best practices to promote health and wellbeing of identified communities.

Applicants deemed eligible for the Transgender People and Black Gay, Bisexual, SGL Men initiative will not be considered for funding through the general open RFP. The Foundation strongly recommendeds that applicants read both RFPs to determine which is best for their organization.

Pre-Application Information:

First-time applicants, should complete an online letter of inquiry (LOI) form by 5 PM Eastern Standard Time on June 30, 2018. EJAF will contact all applicants during the first week of August with information about whether a full proposal will be invited and any follow up. (Due to the high volume of requests, the Foundation kindly asks for no phone calls regarding the request.)

Final grant awards will be announced in October and December 2018.

Only one application per organization will be accepted, so please review both RFPs to determine which best fits the work of the organization.